Facile Synthesis of BiVO4@ZIF−8 Composite with Heterojunction Structure for Photocatalytic Wastewater Treatment

Water pollution has always been a serious problem across the world; therefore, facile pollutant degradation via light irradiation has been an attractive issue in the field of environmental protection. In this study, a type of Zn-based metal–organic framework (ZIF−8)-wrapped BiVO4 nanorod (BiVO4@ZIF−8) with high efficiency for photocatalytic wastewater treatment was synthesized through a two-step hydrothermal method. The heterojunction structure of BiVO4@ZIF−8 was confirmed by morphology characterization. Due to the introduction of mesoporous ZIF−8, the specific surface area reached up to 304.5 m2/g, which was hundreds of times larger than that of pure BiVO4 nanorods. Furthermore, the band gap of BiVO4@ZIF−8 was narrowed down to 2.35 eV, which enabled its more efficient utilization of visible light. After irradiation under visible light for about 40 min, about 70% of rhodamine B (RhB) was degraded, which was much faster than using pure BiVO4 or other BiVO4-based photocatalysts. The synergistic photocatalysis mechanism of BiVO4@ZIF−8 is also discussed. This study might offer new pathways for effective degradation of wastewater through facile design of novel photocatalysts.

116 Continuous vs. discontinuous arrhythmia monitoring in patients with myocarditis: insights from a single-centre experience

Aims Although potentially life-threatening, arrhythmias in myocarditis are under-reported. To assess diagnostic yield and clinical impact of continuous arrhythmia monitoring (CAM) in patients with arrhythmic myocarditis. Methods and results We enrolled consecutive adult patients (n = 104; 71% males, age 47 ± 11 years, mean LVEF 50 ± 13%) with biopsy-proven active myocarditis and de novo ventricular arrhythmias (VA). All patients underwent prospective monitoring by both sequential 24-h Holter ECGs (4/y in the first year; 2/y in years 2–5; 1/y later) and CAM, including either ICD (n = 62; 60%) or loop recorder (n = 42; 40%). By 3.7 ± 1.6 year follow-up, 45 patients (43%) had VT, 67 (64%) NSVT, and 102 (98%) premature ventricular complexes (PVCs). As compared to Holter ECG (average 9.5 exams per patient), CAM identified more patients with VA (VT: 45 vs. 4; NSVT: 64 vs. 45; both P < 0.001), more VA episodes (VT: 100 vs. 4%; NSVT: 91 vs. 12%), and earlier NSVT timing (median 6 vs. 24 months, P < 0.001). Conversely, Holter ECG allowed VA morphology characterization and daily PVC quantification. The time to first treatment modification was 12 ± 9 months by CAM vs. 33 ± 16 months by Holter ECG (P < 0.001), and drug withdrawal was always CAM-dependent. Guided by CAM findings, 8 patients (8%) started anticoagulants for newly diagnosed atrial arrhythmias. Differently from ICDs, loop recorders did not interfere with the interpretation of cardiac magnetic resonance. Conclusions In patients with arrhythmic myocarditis, CAM allowed accurate arrhythmia detection and showed a considerable clinical impact. As a complementary exam, VA characterization and PVC burden were better assessed by repeated Holter ECGs.

Rice Straw as a Natural Sorbent in a Filter System as an Approach to Bioremediate Diesel Pollution

Rice straw, an agricultural waste product generated in huge quantities worldwide, is utilized to remediate diesel pollution as it possesses excellent characteristics as a natural sorbent. This study aimed to optimize factors that significantly influence the sorption capacity and the efficiency of oil absorption from diesel-polluted seawater by rice straw (RS). Spectroscopic analysis by attenuated total reflectance infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy and surface morphology characterization by variable pressure scanning electron microscopy (VPSEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDX) were carried out in order to understand the sorbent capability. Optimization of the factors of temperature pre-treatment of RS (90, 100, 110, 120, 130 or 140 °C), time of heating (10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 or 70 min), packing density (0.08, 0.10, 0.12, 0.14 or 0.16 g cm−3) and oil concentration (5, 10, 15, 20 or 25% (v/v)) was carried out using the conventional one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) approach. To eliminate any non-significant factors, a Plackett–Burman design (PBD) in the response surface methodology (RSM) was used. A central composite design (CCD) was used to identify the presence of significant interactions between factors. The quadratic model produced provided a very good fit to the data (R2 = 0.9652). The optimized conditions generated from the CCD were 120 °C, 10 min, 0.148 g cm−3 and 25% (v/v), and these conditions enhanced oil sorption capacity from 19.6 (OFAT) to 26 mL of diesel oil, a finding verified experimentally. This study provides an improved understanding of the use of a natural sorbent as an approach to remediate diesel pollution.

Accurate Morphology Characterization Using Atomic Force Microscopy via Vertical Drift Correction and Illusory Slope Elimination

Thanks to the ability to perform imaging and manipulation at the nanoscale, atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been widely used in biology, materials, chemistry, and other fields. However, as common error sources, vertical drift and illusory slope severely impair AFM imaging quality. To address this issue, this paper proposes a robust algorithm to synchronously correct the image distortion caused by vertical drift and slope, thus achieving accurate morphology characterization. Specifically, to eliminate the damage of abnormal points and feature areas on the correction accuracy, the laser spot voltage error acquired in the AFM scanning process is first utilized to preprocess the morphology height data of the sample, so as to obtain the refined alternative data suitable for line fitting. Subsequently, this paper proposes a novel line fitting algorithm based on sparse sample consensus, which accurately simulates vertical drift and slope in the cross-sectional profile of the topographic image, thereby achieving effective correction of the image distortion. In the experiments and applications, a nanoscale optical grating sample and a biological cell sample are adopted to perform topography imaging and distortion correction, so as to verify the ability of the proposed algorithm to promote AFM imaging quality.

Clinical impact of continuous electrical monitoring in patients with arrhythmic myocarditis: a prospective cohort study

Background Although potentially life-threatening, arrhythmias in myocarditis are under-reported. Purpose To assess diagnostic yield and clinical impact of continuous arrhythmia monitoring (CAM) in patients with arrhythmic myocarditis. Methods We enrolled consecutive adult patients (n=104; 71% males, age 47±11y, mean LVEF 50±13%) with biopsy-proven active myocarditis and de novo ventricular arrhythmias (VA). All patients underwent prospective monitoring by both sequential 24-hour Holter ECGs (4/y in the first year; 2/y in years 2–5; 1/y later) and CAM, including either ICD (n=62; 60%) or loop recorder (n=42; 40%). Results By 3.7±1.6 y follow-up, 45 patients (43%) had VT, 67 (64%) NSVT, and 102 (98%) premature ventricular complexes (PVC). As compared to Holter ECG (average 9.5 exams per patient), CAM identified more patients with VA (VT: 45 vs. 4; NSVT: 64 vs. 45; both p<0.001), more VA episodes (VT: 100 vs. 4%; NSVT: 91 vs. 12%), and earlier NSVT timing (median 6 vs. 24 months, p<0.001). Conversely, Holter ECG allowed VA morphology characterization and daily PVC quantification. The time to first treatment modification was 12±9 months by CAM vs. 33±16 months by Holter ECG (p<0.001), and drug withdrawal was always CAM-dependent. Guided by CAM findings, 8 patients (8%) started anticoagulants for newly-diagnosed atrial arrhythmias. Differently from ICDs, loop recorders did not interfere with the interpretation of cardiac magnetic resonance. Conclusion In patients with arrhythmic myocarditis, CAM allowed accurate arrhythmia detection and showed a considerable clinical impact. As a complementary exam, VA characterization and PVC burden were better assed by repeated Holter ECGs. FUNDunding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None.

Isolation and Characterization of Endomycorrhizal Fungi Associated with Growth Promotion of Blueberry Plants

Despite their notable root mutualism with blueberries (Vaccinium spp.), studies related to Ericoid mycorrhizal (ERM) are relatively limited. In this study, we report the isolation of 14 endomycorrhizal fungi and their identification by fungal colony morphology characterization combined with PCR-amplified fungal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence analyses. Six of the isolated strains were confirmed as beneficial mycorrhizal fungi for blueberry plants following inoculation. We observed the formation of typical ERM hyphae coil structures—which promote and nutritionally support growth—in blueberry seedlings and significant nitrogen and phosphorous content increases in diverse tissues. QRT-PCRs confirmed changes in VcPHT1s expression patterns. After the formation of ERM, PHT1-1 transcription in roots was upregulated by 1.4- to threefold, whilst expression of PHT1-3 and PHT1-4 in roots were downregulated 72% and 60%, respectively. Amino acid sequence analysis of all four VcPHT1s genes from the blueberry variety “Sharpblue” revealed an overall structural similarity of 67% and predicted transmembrane domains. Cloning and overexpression of PHT1-1 and PHT1-3 genes in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants significantly enriched total phosphorus and chlorophyll content, confirming that PHT1-1 and PHT1-3 gene functions are associated with the transport and absorption of phosphorus.